Confused with Credit

[ptapaul]

Well I am confused! Recently, I was pre-approved for credit with Essex for $51,000. I have the customary 20% downpayment but unfortunately the deal fell through on the owners end. Essex said if I find another boat within 30 days I''m still pre-approved. I found a 1982 Westerly but now Essex says that due to the boats age, I will need to supply 50% down. This just doesn''t seem right. Can anyone suggest a few other marine credit companies that want business?

[ptapaul]

I just found a decent website which has several marine loan companies. It is http://www.marinemall.net and they seem to be as useful a site as sailnet.com.

[isail]

I think I would see if their is some sort of mix up. Myself, a year ago I purchased a 1979 sailboat and went through Essex and had not one problem. I also kept getting extensions until I found the boat I wanted. Maybe you should go directly to the main office and see if you have better luck. Sometime the sales rep isn''t up to speed.
Fairwinds & Following Seas

[Jeff_H]

I found that there were very big variations between the various loan sources in rates and in restrictions. One thing that surprized me is that one company had a list that rated the ease with which different models seemed to resell and if you were looking for a boat on that list the wanted more money down. Age was a common theme. I bought a 1983 model. If the boat was 20 years old most said it fell in a different category and I would have had to put down a lot more money.

I ended up going through Lisa DiDomenico at Trident Funding Corporation in Annapolis. 888-386-3121. She was great to work with and the whole process was very painless. They offered really good rates and gave me no heartburn about the age of the boat (but as it turned out I ended up putting up a lot of cash for other reasons.

Good luck,
Jeff